~ Stories and reflections

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Welcome to ‘Chateaux en Espagne’, I’ve set this blog up as a home for my short stories. I’ve read that most short story writers get a tiny audience and no earnings- this gets me there the lazy way.

I joined the Daily Telegraph Creative Writing Group in January 2012, on completing the Open University’s A174 course in Creative Writing. I’ve now completed A215 Creative Writing which develops prose fiction, poetry and ‘Life Writing’ skills, and A363 Creative Writing which introduces drama writing and explores linkages between drama, fiction and poetry.

The monthly Creative Writing (CW) Competition is run entirely by bloggers, with minimal support and no editorial interference from the Daily Telegraph. There’s no prize, a theme is set each month by a previous winner, we all post our stories by the end of the month, and then we vote and feed back. The whole thing is great for the wannabe writer because you read all the stories, see what you like, what works, what’s popular and what isn’t, and why. It’s friendly and supportive, and at the end of the voting period there’s an on-line get-together with virtual drinks in Bleda’s bar. (see Bleda on my BlogLinks page).

See my BlogLinks page to connect to other writers and to try the useful websites I’ve found while researching stories.

Now, if you’re reading this, you like writing, and you haven’t got a blog yet, then give it a go! WordPress is easy, free, and gives you total control of your content, you don’t get invaded by spam and you can edit or delete your posts whenever you want. Also, their ‘Site Stats’ button shows you how many people read your stuff. The WordPress site provides lots of user information and there are also lots of free themes to download, so you can choose the exact look you want to suit your content.